Prince wowed the world today with the announcement of a two imminent new albums.
The albums will be released on September 30th, with the first one being titled PlectrumElectrum, according to Fox News. This album was recorded with Prince’s all girl band he calls 3RDEYEGIRL.
The second album will also be released on September 30th, and is a Prince standalone entitled, Art Official Age according to the album’s official site. This album has been described in a press release as a mix of “soul, R&B and funk.”
The album, Prince announced, will be released through Warner Bros. records, the record label Prince recorded on from 1978 to the mid 1990’s. Prince had been in a legal battle with Warner Bros. for the rights to his music and finally reached a deal with them in April.
The lawsuit originated after Prince released such seminal projects as Purple Rain, 1999, Diamonds and Pearls and Around the World in a Day on Warner Bros. Records. Prince later claimed that he failed to gain possession to the rights of his own music. Prince retaliated against the record label by changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol – entering “the artist formerly known as Prince” phase of his career – and making appearances with the word SLAVE written on his cheek. Prince then also vowed that he would re-record all 17 albums he’d released on Warner Bros. and sell them on his own.
Prince then severed ties with Warner Bros. and started selling his music direct to fans via the internet. After that, he had a few short recording contract stints with Arista Records and Columbia records, where he had a comeback with the album Musicology in 2004.
Now Prince and Warner Bros. seem to have figured out their disagreements, and the legendary pop artist is once again tied to their label.
Prince’s illustrious career has been nothing short of amazing. With ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles in his long tenure as a pop god, Prince has etched himself out as one of the top American music performers in the last three decades. His 1984 album, Purple Rain – the soundtrack to the movie of the same name starring – you guessed it – Prince – was named by Time magazine as one of the top 15 albums of all time, and Tempo magazine named it the number one best album of the 1980’s. With tracks like When Doves Cry, Let’s Go Crazy and the title track, Purple Rain, the album became a soundtrack full of music that identified an entire generation.
PlectrumElectrum and Art Official Age will be Prince’s first releases since 2010’s aptly titled 20Ten .
images via PlectrumElectrum and Art Official Age official sites